Our Mission
Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy bridges academic theory and practitioner experience to address increasingly complex global challenges, from geopolitical conflicts to transnational threats, the global commons, evolving diplomatic statecraft and the emerging multipolar order.
The institute weaves research and practice to generate new ideas and approaches, and teaches, mentors, and prepares the next generation of foreign policy practitioners to craft sustainable solutions to current, emerging and yet-unknown challenges.
Who we are
Founded in 1978, Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy is uniquely positioned to serve as a bridge between academic scholarship and practitioners’ expertise to better understand and enhance the core role of diplomacy in advancing national interests, global stability and economic security.
The world faces existential and transnational threats such as pandemics, climate change, fragile and failing states, cyber and the dark side of technology, terrorism and kleptocracy, and bad actors who offend the very nature of civilized society and international norms and do not respect boundaries. These threats cannot be managed by a single state or, as most experienced military commanders will attest, by military means alone. They demand a well-constructed, well-tended, and well-respected international order, and the institutions to maintain it.
Diplomacy’s partners—development and defense; commerce and technology; nongovernmental organizations and civil society; and, friends and allies—rely on the diplomat’s and policy-maker’s skills to create, foster, and maintain a global environment within which they can best operate.
Addressing these challenges requires effective diplomacy, in concert with these partners, that builds toward sustainable solutions through negotiations and mediation, political persuasion and conflict resolution.
Without effective engagement, there can be no peace, no economic or human security, nor a sustainable environment.
What we do
To solve the challenges we face today, and those we cannot yet imagine, the institute weaves together theory and practice, supports teaching and mentoring at the undergraduate, graduate, and mid-career level, and provides tailored executive master’s and certificate programs. In addition, the institute organizes policy dialogues between scholars and policymakers on emerging global challenges, publishes reports and policy briefs and manages the only globally-accessible online library of practitioner-focused diplomatic case studies and simulations.